IRVING FLORES TRIO LIVE AT SAM FIRST

Tucked just steps from the runways of LAX, Sam First has quietly become one of Southern California’s most distinctive listening rooms — a sleek, low-lit jazz sanctuary where the glow of the bar, the close-knit semicircle of tables and the steady hum of conversation give way each night to serious musicianship. The room’s relaxed yet attentive vibe provided the perfect setting for Latin jazz master Irving Flores to bring his sensual, deeply rhythmic and wildly adventurous piano fire into a more intimate, improvisational space.

Listeners familiar with Flores’ recent critically acclaimed album Armando Mi Conga might have expected the expansive sound of the powerhouse sextet featured on that recording. Instead, the Mexican-born, San Diego-based pianist offered something equally riveting but refreshingly different: a stripped-down trio setting that revealed the rhythmic core and freewheeling spark of his compositions with striking clarity. Joined by bassist Will Lyle and legendary Cuban drummer/percussionist Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, Flores transformed the cozy club into a vibrant laboratory of Latin jazz interplay.

Flores’ first set wrapped four explosive tunes from Armando Mi Conga around fresh, energetic “Irving-ized” interpretations of classics by John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. The trio set the tone for the evening with “Music En La Calle,” beginning with plucky piano chords over Hernández’s hypnotic percussion patterns, then launching into a dazzling flurry of high-register runs before grounding the piece with darker chordal accents. The trio quickly locked into a bustling Latin swing groove, Lyle’s steady bass anchoring the pulse while Hernández layered intricate percussion textures beneath Flores’ adventurous cascades of notes. Even in the intimate room, the music radiated the spirit of a much larger ensemble.

“Gary En Nanchital” shifted the mood toward elegant romance. Flores opened with whimsical melodic gestures that floated above a relaxed bass and percussion groove before gradually deepening the expressive pull of the piece. Lyle stepped forward with a thoughtful solo — bow in hand — drawing long, resonant tones while Hernández maintained a hypnotic rhythmic foundation. As the trio expanded the dynamic range, the performance evolved into a lively exotica-tinged excursion filled with colorful piano flourishes.

Between songs, Flores paused to thank Sam First for hosting the group and introduced his collaborators, noting that Hernández — visiting from Cuba — was a special guest whose rhythmic brilliance would shape the entire evening.

That brilliance came roaring to life on the jazz standard “Star Eyes.” Though recorded by everyone from Parker (in 1951) to McCoy Tyner (1963), Flores’ interpretation gave it a buoyant, irrepressible Latin twist. Hernández’s booming accents and Lyle’s rolling bass created an infectious groove while Flores spun playful melodic variations across the keyboard, his lines alternating between crisp articulation and passionate bursts of improvisation.

“Samba Con Sabor” followed with fiery intensity. From the opening piano flourish, Flores propelled the trio into a lively samba groove that felt both joyful and relentlessly propulsive. His attack on the keys alternated between sparkling glissandos, percussive chord strikes and fluid melodic passages while Hernández responded with increasingly explosive rhythmic commentary. At moments, it felt as if the two were engaged in a spirited musical chase, each pushing the other toward higher peaks of intensity before settling back into the buoyant pulse.

One of the evening’s most striking moments arrived with a deeply expressive interpretation of John Coltrane’s iconic “Naima.” Flores began the piece as a solo, allowing soft piano notes to echo through the room as if searching for the melody across the instrument’s upper and lower registers. Gradually, Hernández’s subtle percussion colors and Lyle’s bass joined the unfolding atmosphere, guiding the piece into a soulful mid-tempo interpretation that honored Coltrane’s spiritual grace while introducing Flores’ own Latin-inflected improvisational voice.

The trio wrapped the first set with the exuberant “Dana Point,” driven by a hypnotic ostinato pattern and buoyant interplay between bass and drums. The piece quickly expanded toward a thrilling climax highlighted by a blistering percussion solo from Hernández, with Flores punctuating the momentum through cascading chord sequences.

If the first set showcased the trio’s rhythmic firepower, the second revealed a broader expressive palette. “With Amanda in Favignana,” dedicated to Flores’ wife and manager Amanda, began as a tender piano ballad reminiscent of the album’s solo version before gradually blossoming into a playful groove that captured the joy of the Italian island that inspired the composition.

Premiering exciting new material from an upcoming project, the lyrical “La Rumorosa” unfolded as a graceful melodic dance, its descending piano lines drifting like falling snow before organically erupting into an electrifying trio improvisation. “Tramonto A Massa Lubrense,” another reflection on Italy, offered a moment of dreamy romanticism filled with delicate piano textures and subtle bass undertones.

The evening’s most electrifying premiere came with “A Letter to Eddie Palmieri,” Flores’ tribute to the legendary Latin jazz icon. The piece began with rambunctious percussive piano figures echoed by Hernández’s imaginative drumming before expanding into a captivating groove that blended straight-ahead jazz phrasing with Palmieri-style rhythmic fire. The performance eventually evolved into a thunderous piano-and-drum exchange that had the audience leaning forward in collective anticipation.

Flores closed the night with an explosive rendition of the title track “Armando Mi Conga.” Racing across the keyboard with lightning speed while Hernández unleashed waves of exotic percussion textures and Lyle drove the groove with muscular bass lines, the trio delivered a finale bursting with celebratory energy.

Over the course of two sets, Flores performed nearly the entire repertoire of Armando Mi Conga while previewing several compositions from his next recording project. In the intimate glow of Sam First, stripped of the larger ensemble heard on the album, the trio format revealed the essential brilliance of Flores’ music — compositions rooted in deep Latin rhythmic traditions yet endlessly open to improvisation. By the time the final notes faded and the audience rose in applause, it was clear that whether leading a sextet in the studio or commanding an incendiary trio in a listening room, Irving Flores remains one of the most dynamic and inventive voices in contemporary Latin jazz.